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A compelling four-part drama called The Sixth Commandment follows elderly, fervently devout neighbours Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin as they become connected with charismatic student Ben Field.
The sixth commandment of the Bible, “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” is referenced in the title. Throughout the series, Ben makes several allusions to this commandment, even lecturing about how evil murder is at one point. Although they were both extremely devout, Peter (Timothy Spall) and Ann (Anne Reid) fell in love with Ben (Éanna Hardwicke), who poisoned and killed Peter before preying on Ann for her money later on while appearing to like them both.
Ben’s acts in Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, startled the town, and he had persuaded many people around that he was just a kind, helpful neighbour, even though that couldn’t have been farther from the reality.
The Sixth Commandment Ending Explained
Let’s review Peter Farquhar’s and Ann Moore-Martin’s cases before moving on to Ben’s trial.
Soon after meeting Peter when he was conducting university courses, Ben prayed on him initially. By using love poems and kind gestures to manipulate Peter into moving in with him, he took advantage of Peter’s hidden sexuality.
As a result, Peter revised his will to include Ben, which worried his brother. Peter, though, was convinced that he wanted to do this since he and Ben were in love.
In order to “torment” Peter, Ben continued to manipulate him by dosing his beverages with benzodiazepines and hallucinogens. Confusion, hallucinations, and—most disturbing of all—public humiliation at a book signing in front of all his friends were the effects of this.
He continued torturing Peter up until that fatal night when, alleging that Peter was an alcoholic, he staged his demise to appear as though he had drunk himself to death.
Later, Ben moved on to Ann Moore-Martin, a neighbour of Peter. After falling in love with Ben, Ann also amended her will to include him. Ann subsequently passed away from natural causes, but not before realising she had been duped and removing Ben from her will.
After the ordeal, Ben Field entered a guilty plea to the lesser counts of drugging Peter Farquhar and cheating Ann of £31,000 in cash ‘gifts’ and £160,000 from Peter’s bequest. He denied having any part in any of their deaths, though.
2019 saw Ben Field get a life sentence and a minimum of 36 years in prison after an Oxford Crown Court jury convicted him guilty of killing Peter Farquhar.
It was determined by forensics that Peter had not consumed enough alcohol to be deadly, and hair tests revealed he had been drugged for at least six months, providing them with enough evidence to find Ben guilty of Peter’s murder.